De Guararapes veio tudo : representações da pernambucanidade no discurso dos políticos pernambucanos, 1979-1986

Abstract

In the late 1970s and first half of the 1980s there were significant changes in the political and cultural fields of thepernambucan society that placed the identity of been from Pernambuco in the spotlight, turning into a fashion the proud statement and of its values under the generic label “pernambucanidade”. The perception on the part of politicians, of the ineffectiveness of SUDENE to solve regional problems, the economic crisis of the 1980s and its increase in 1983 contributed to the government actions and speeches pay more attention to the State than the Region and transform tourism in the apple of the eye to resolve the crisis. This, plus the expectations and the impact of the transformation of Olinda in UNESCO World Heritage in 1982 - which attracted the attention of Brazil and the world for the State - and the actions of the cultural industries on the increasing globalization on what Pernambuco was involved, contributed even more to heat their political and cultural field. From various social segments discourses arose undertaking the various uses of “pernambucanidade” and among them, the speeches of the political representatives of this State. This work has as objective the study of the representations of theidentity from pernambuco in thepolitical discourseof the State, with a particular focus on the governors and State legislators, from the period between 1979 and 1986. For this task we used official documents such as the Official State Journal and the Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly, and unofficial, as the newspapers Diario de Pernambuco and Jornal do Commercio. The studies of Cultural History were complemented by Critical Discourse Studies, on a three dimensional approach which enabled us to a richer understanding of this recent past of our history. In it, we could see how certain identity references of the State, used by politicians, such as "bravery" and "patriotism" - so important in Civil-Military Dictatorship in Brazil - and the argument that the "nation would have a debt to Pernambuco” because “their children” expelled the Dutch “invaders” were used as a bargaining chip in dialogue with the central power. The visibility now being given to the "Battle of Guararapes" in celebrations and decorations, both functioned as a mechanism to "remember" the center of power the alleged deeds made bythe native people of Pernambuco, and to seek to promote the subjection of the people from Pernambuco, through a semantics of assumptions under which those born on that region were "faithful to the historic tradition" of "civility" and "religiosity." The "historical resentment" and "pride" of Pernambuco are alsoelements encouraged by the political speech to provide the acceptance for their projects by natives of Pernambuco because, in the face of gradual democratization and openness, especially from Direct Elections for governor in 1982, they now need popular acceptance to stay in power. In search of the analysis and understanding of practices and discourses that make us, or try to make us, Brazilians, Northeasterners, and in particular, Pernambucans, our work demonstrates that the representations of “pernambucanidade” in the politicians discourse conjure interests of bargaining, manipulation, symbolic domination and constant abuse of power.